SLS 12RS-2829 ORIGINAL
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Regular Session, 2012
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 84
BY SENATOR THOMPSON
WATER QUALITY. Requests the commissioner of administration and the director of the
governor's office of coastal activities to utilize all available funding when considering the
implementation of the Gulf hypoxia action plan.
A RESOLUTION1
To urge and request the commissioner of administration and the director of the governor's2
office of coastal activities to utilize all available funding when considering the3
implementation of the Gulf hypoxia action plan.4
WHEREAS, the growth of a large zone of low oxygen, known as hypoxia, off the5
coast of Louisiana, has been a concern for a number of years, and poses a significant threat6
to the health of Louisiana's productive offshore fishery; and7
WHEREAS, Louisiana has been a partner in the cooperative effort by the federal8
government and other states in the Mississippi River basin to reduce the nutrient loading that9
fuels Gulf hypoxia, including the adopting of the 2008 Action Plan to Reduce Hypoxia in the10
Northern Gulf of Mexico; and11
WHEREAS, a key element of the plan is the adoption of state nutrient reduction12
strategies to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to the Mississippi River and its13
tributaries, and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico; and14
WHEREAS, Louisiana's nutrient reduction strategy has articulated voluntary actions15
to reduce non-point source nutrient loading in tributary watersheds to the Mississippi and16
Atchafalaya rivers, voluntary reductions by facilities in the industrial corridor to the Gulf of17
Mexico, and the state's coastal restoration program; and18 SR NO. 84
SLS 12RS-2829 ORIGINAL
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WHEREAS, the 2012 Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast supports1
the efforts of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the Department of2
Environmental Quality to implement the state's nutrient reduction strategy under the Gulf3
hypoxia action plan; and4
WHEREAS, the likelihood of cuts in the budgets of federal programs will5
significantly reduce and possibly eliminate traditional funding sources for these programs,6
as well as funding for the implementation of the Gulf hypoxia action plan; and7
WHEREAS, Louisiana is expected to receive substantial funds resulting from the8
2010 BP oil disaster, including Clean Water Act penalties, natural resource damage9
assessment monies, and criminal and civil suit settlements to apply to the restoration of the10
Gulf of Mexico waters and coastal ecosystems; and11
WHEREAS, reduction of the Gulf of Mexico's hypoxia zone is a necessary step in12
restoring the health of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as long-standing goals of the state of13
Louisiana.14
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana15
does hereby request the commissioner of administration and the director of the governor's16
office of coastal activities to utilize all available funding when considering the17
implementation of the Gulf hypoxia action plan involving agricultural practices, wetlands,18
conservation and restoration, and watershed management in the tributary basins of the19
Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, such as those of the Boeuf, Ouachita, Tensas and Black20
rivers.21
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the22
commissioner of administration and the director of the governor's office of coastal activities.23
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Michelle Broussard-Johnson.
DIGEST
Thompson SR No.
Requests the commissioner of administration and the director of the governor's office of
coastal activities to utilize all available funding when considering the implementation of the
Gulf hypoxia action plan.